


Suburban Dysphoria

by insertcleveruserhere



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But There Will Be Feels, Eventual FWB, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Overworked Parents, Parent Friend Groups, Parents, Porn With Plot, Sex Before Feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-05-30 04:58:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15089507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insertcleveruserhere/pseuds/insertcleveruserhere
Summary: Desdemona Trevelyan is coming to terms with three very horrible truths:1. Her two daughters are in need of a little more time with her, but she can't give up her career because paying rent is Skyhold is ridiculous.2. He isn't coming back.3. Her older daughter's baseball coach is really hot and she's worried it's too soon to start dating again, especially after that flop of a date with Charter.But, no matter how hard she tries to resist being pulled into the fray of suburban nightmare, those she calls friends continually pull her back in.**Vaguely inspired by quiteanerdling's fic "Run Home" (literally the only similarities are baseball and FWB). I'm still slightly peeved about the fact it hasn't been updated since 2016, but the seven chapters that are there are pure gold, so I suggest giving it a read.





	1. Days In

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Run Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6985507) by [quiteanerdling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiteanerdling/pseuds/quiteanerdling). 



“You just gonna sit ‘round all day or’re you gonna do something?” Sera whines, watching Des type away furiously, more focused on whatever it was she was working on than Sera, which happened to be the entirety of the problem. The elf bounced the baby on her hip, all too happy to try and reach for the pointed ends of her ears and babble incoherently.

“I am doing something, Sera.” She says, voice even and monotonous as she continues to write, despite the distraction. “Look, I’ve really got to finish this before I pick up Carmen.”

“Pish.” Sera glares at her friend, “What’s the point in you coming over ‘ere if you ain’t gonna hang out with me?”

Desdemona finally spares her a glance away from her angrily bright computer screen, “I told you I had work to do before I came over.”

“Yeah, ‘n I thought that meant you would put the work off to do somethin’ fun, yeah?” The baby grabs for her bottom lip, and Sera nips at her hand playfully, sending her into an elated string of screeches, bouncing wildly.

“Where’s Dagna?” Des turns her attention back to her screen, and Sera has half a mind to throw the laptop against the wall.

“School.” Sera scrunches up her nose, “How she does it’s beyond me.”

Des finally seems to catch sight of the time and swears aloud, shutting her laptop and jumping to her feet, “Why didn’t you tell me it was past three, Sera?”

“You didn’t ask, Dezzy.”

“I’ve got to go get Carmen – tell Dagna I said hi.” She shoves her laptop into her bag and tosses it over her shoulder, “We’ll be back over soon, but I’ve currently got to speed at least forty miles over the speed limit in Skyhold traffic to pick up my daughter on time.” Des takes Inez into her arms and kisses Sera’s cheek and rushes down to her car and to the school, cursing every moment she wastes in traffic.

It’s almost cliché how Carmen sits on the bottom step of the school’s front steps, arms around her knees with Josie sitting alongside her. 

Josie was a teacher at Carmen’s school, and a close family friend. She’d babysat the girls on more than one occasion when Des was working and too stubborn to allow her mother to visit.

Des steps out of the car, looking embarrassingly disheveled and sighs, shutting the door behind her and grabbing Inez from the backseat. She didn’t deserve the way Carmen’s eyes lit up when she saw her, and she certainly deserved the cold glare she got from Josephine.

“Traffic was…and I got caught up in work…” She tries to excuse herself, but Josephine cuts her off with a short wave of her hand.

“I nearly sent her home on the bus…but she insisted that you would come. I did call, Desdemona.”

“Shit, Josie,” She pats her pockets, “I left it at the apartment…Carmen, go wait in the car, mija.” Des adjusts Inez on her hip as Carmen scampers off, leaving her along with Josephine and her hawk-like gaze. 

“Des, you can’t keep doing this to her! She has come to expect your tardiness!”

“I’m not always tardy.” Des defends as Inez reaches for her Aunt Josephine, “Look, I’ve been trying to get an audience with Divine Justinia for weeks now, and I can’t stop until I’ve got her attention.”

Josephine sighs, hearing too much of herself in her dear friend, and nods slowly, giving Inez a fraction of the attention she desired, “I understand, Des, but you must see it from her perspective. You work constantly, and she is left to deal with what happened with Harvel alone.” That stings, and Josephine knew it would, but it was a necessary evil to be brought forth, “You must find something to occupy her mind if you truly can’t be with her.” Josephine pauses for half a moment before saying, “Herah and I have decided to allow Rayza to play in the local minor league team…perhaps Carmen would be interested?”

Des turns to look over her shoulder, and sighs, then nods, and turns back to Josephine, “I’ll…we’ll talk it over, and I’ll give you a call.”

Josie nods, “I think it would be…fun, if you’ve ever heard of that, my friend.” She teases, and Des forces a chuckle, “I must be getting home now. We must let the girls get together some time.” 

The ride home isn’t so bad. Carmen is all to excited to talk about the book they’re reading in class and the history they’re learning and the sciences and magics they’re studying, and she says that she could go on and on about the science and magic for hours, and Des smiles and says she’d love to hear all about it. Inez is distracted by one of the toys hanging from her hand-me-down car seat.

“So, Josephine said Rayza was playing baseball after school. Do you think that’s something you’d want to do?” Des glances over to her as she drives.

“Rayza told me about that! It sounds like fun.” 

Des smiles as she pulls up to their building, “That doesn’t sound like a yes to me.”

“It’s a yes! It’s a yes in all caps with seven exclamation points!”

“Seven? It must be serious.” Des puts the car in park and cuts the engine, “If it’s something you want to do, I’ll talk to Josie and find out how to sign you up.”

“Yes, yes, most definitely yes.” Carmen’s practically buzzing in her seat, and Des can’t help but to laugh.

“Alright, alright. Head upstairs and do your homework, and I’ll call Josie.” Carmen nods excitedly and rushes to get out of the car and practically bolts up the stairs, Des following closely behind, holding Inez and almost forgetting to lock the car and having to go back for her bag and forgetting that she remembered to lock her car in the first place.

Their neighbor, Roderick, is probably the most nosy, most annoying, most senile man in existence, and looked at Des with those squinty eyes as if she had dropped out of the Fade. She thanks the Maker when he’s not sitting in front of his apartment, and opens the door to her own so Carmen can burst inside. 

“Alright, I’ll give Josie a call. You grab a snack and do your stuff, kiddo.” Carmen’s already in the kitchen as she speaks, but it makes her feel better to tell her. Inez is satisfied with sitting in the bouncy walker thing from Carmen’s baby days and sucking on a bottle, so Des finally has a chance to find her phone. 

For some Maker-forsaken reason, her phone was actually on the end table, where it belonged for once.

Sure enough, she’s got four missed calls, two from Josie, one from Varric, and…one from Leliana, her editor. She nearly shits herself then and there when she sees his name on the screen, and sincerely fears listening to the voicemail. She and Leliana were friends, or at least ‘not on bad terms’, but that didn’t mean it was good news about work.

“Desdemona, it’s Leliana. Give me a call whenever you get a chance. I liked your last piece, and it’s your turn to play newscaster.” The voicemail cuts off, and Des sighs, debating whether to call Josie or return Leliana’s call.

Leliana ultimately wins over.

“Hello?” Her Orlesian accent is the first thing she hears.

“Hey, Leliana, it’s Desdemona.”

“Perfect.” Des is convinced she can hear her smiling, “When you come in on Monday, I should have the piece on the Circle scandals finished. Your piece on the Blight ran today, and your interview with Grand Enchanter Fiona will run tomorrow.”

“That’s great, Leliana.” Des really doesn’t know where she’s going with this.

“Masqued Murmurs Monthly wrote a piece about you – it’s quite lewd, actually, but it’s the first negative official review I’ve heard. It’s actually quite humorous. I’ll have to send you the article.”

“They wrote a piece about me?”

“That they did. Oh! I managed to snag you an interview with Divine Justinia next Thursday at two o’clock. You’ll be there, yes?”

Des could nearly jump for joy, she’s certain, “Yes! Yes, that’s perfect Leliana. You were sent by Andraste, I’m sure.”

Leliana laughs, “Andraste? High praise. Look, Elissa is just getting home, so I must talk to you later. See you Monday.” She hangs up before Des can say anything, but she can’t stop smiling.

She could only pray that things got easier – and quick.


	2. Days Out

It had been eleven months that day when Des finds herself sitting in the bleachers of an old baseball field, bickering back and forth with Vivienne, a colleague, over the phone and trying to watch as Carmen darted after the ball. Inez was over at Morrigan’s – she’d become so much happier around children since she had Kieran and had even offered to watch the baby, and it would be nice and serene and memorable if she didn’t have a literal banshee barking in her ear at the moment.

Des knows she should probably be writing right now, but she’ll be damned if anything tears her away from her daughter’s first practice. She tells herself she won’t embarrass her and stay for the rest, but she wanted to see how the stickball game worked, and to see if Carmen really enjoyed herself playing it.

But, Vivienne was probably one of the most egotistical, annoying, stuck up bitches this side of the Frostbacks, and had the nerve to bring up Harvel on a work call, as if throwing her public affairs in her face would do anything but add kindling to the fire. She hangs up on her and stuffs her phone in her bag, putting her hands under her thighs, both to calm her down and to prevent herself from getting frostbite.

It wasn’t her fault Harvel decided family life just wasn’t for him anymore. They’d always had their fair share of problems, but she thought he would at least give her a heads up before he bolted in the middle of the night with a literal note on his pillow saying he was gone. Last she heard, he’d gone back to the Dalish reservation he was from. She didn’t have the heart to bring the girls there, or to even write. He decided to leave, so he should have to be the one to decide to come back.

The kids are doing some stretches, so she finally takes a moment to read that article Leliana sent her from Masqued Murmurs, and immediately regrets it.

‘Politics, gossip, and hitting you with the hard facts? None other than Inquisition News Reporter, Desdemona Trevelyan! From the Free Marches, she’ll certainly free all expectations. Tevene beauty seems to run deep in this looker, and brains and beauty don’t seem to be marching away from her anytime soon, but her beliefs are sketchy, to say the least.’

“Sweet fucking Maker.” She mutters, scrolling through it. She hears the crack of a baseball hitting a bat and immediately, her eyes are back on the field, trying to find Carmen. The kids are all in a line, with some blonde guy she assumes is the coach tossing underhanded balls to them. Rayza, Josie’s daughter who was at least three inches taller than Des though she was only eleven, was sprinting to second base. 

“You know, Masqued Murmurs is typically just porn.”

She all but slams her phone screen down onto the metal bench, turning to find whoever the hell it was who managed to creep up on her, and briefly worries about possibly cracking her screen. 

Of all people, it had to be the largest Qunari she’d ever seen – and she’d been in a room with Herah and her brothers – in tacky orange sweat pants and a green tank top, arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m, uh…they wrote a piece on me.” It sounded much less stupid in her head, and she mentally reprimands herself. “Are you…a parent?”

“Yeah, I am.” He smiles as if it were his proudest accomplishment, “See the kid at bat?”

She couldn’t really, but he was significantly shorter than Carmen.

“Yeah, I see him.”

“Krem, my boy. You?”

“The girl second to last.” She explains, hoping he could see. She wondered how he saw with only one eye. That had to affect depth perception, right? “Carmen.” She tacks on at the end.

“Iron Bull.” 

“Pardon?” She asks, not sure of what he was asking of her.

He only smiles one of those stupid dad grins, “My name. Iron Bull.”

“Oh. Desdemona Trevelyan.”

“You one of those Marchers?” He said it so flippantly, as if he were asking if she was part of a sewing circle. 

“I could ask if you were a Qunari, but then I’d just look stupid.” 

He barks out a laugh, “Yeah, the horns usually give it away.”

A remnant of a smile on her lips, she finally answers, “I lived in the Marches for a time, but no. I’m Tevene.”

“Really?” He asks, but it’s not really a question, and she sees as his eye passes over her, passing judgement.

“Is that a problem?”

He almost looks surprised, “No, no, it’s just that my boy’s a ‘Vint too.”

She looks around the bleachers, and still, no other parents are present but the two of them, “So…do parents normally stick around for practice or do we get gold stars for being the only ones here?”

He smiles again, “Nah, not usually. But we usually get a pretty good turnout for games.”

“We?” The gears finally seem to turn in her head, and her mouth take an ‘o’ shape, “You’re the coach.”

“I am.” He says, practically bursting with pride once again. “And you do those little clips of news on INN.” Inquisition News Network. She’d worked there for two years now.

“Yeah, sometimes.” She glances down to her knees, wondering how she could be so stupid. It wasn’t like she was a teenager talking to her high school crush. Just having a very adult conversation with her daughter’s baseball coach.

Her very hot baseball coach.

“Wait, who’s the blonde guy?” She asks, turning her attention back to the pitcher. A little dwarven boy is up to bat.

“Cullen Rutherford. Co-coach, or whatever.” He shrugs, “Good guy, good with the kids.” There’s a moment of silence neither of them know how to fill, so he says, “I’ll see you around, Trevelyan.” 

Andraste’s flaming nips, she was in trouble.

Immediately, she’s on her phone again.

“Dorian, you’re coming to a baseball game this Saturday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop a comment it fuels me


	3. Ease

“But sweet Maker Dorian, you didn’t see…him!” Des all but screeches, her cousin only watching on with a bemused smirk. He had Inez on his left knee, snoozing soundly as if she hadn’t a care in the world, and was absentmindedly paging through a book.

“And what did he call himself? ‘The Iron Bull’?”

“He’s got one eye. One eye!”

“He’s got you fantastically worked up over a two minute conversation.” Des was half convinced she wanted to slap that perfect smile off his perfect face and ruin his perfect mustache. “So he’s Carmen’s…baseball coach, and you want me to come with you this weekend to what? Play wingman?” He sets the book on the arm rest of the couch, moving ever so slightly, as not to wake the baby.

She glares at him, but doesn’t raise her voice, for fear of waking Inez, “Do you remember when we were in Tevinter before you went to Minrathous, and you were chasing after Rilienus like a fly takes to crap? And I stopped you from making a fool of yourself in front of him every other moment?”

“You want me to make sure you don’t embarrass yourself in front of tall, dark, and Qunari?”

“I want you to be there for moral support because I’m incapable of making sense of things.” She takes a deep breath and sits alongside him, “Look, there was another coach there.”

“Are you suggesting that I partake in this lecherous revelry?” Dorian pauses for effect, “You know me too well. This Saturday, you said?”

Dorian knew he was really going for Carmen, and he knew that Des knew he was going to support the elder of the girls – a third of the only family he still cared for – and would continue to joke about ogling the coach of her baseball team.

But, the baseball game was certainly not his speed. The metal seats burnt his legs when he sat and he swore in Tevene, earning a disapproving glare from one of the parents from the opposing team – a human woman with blonde hair – and he strains to find Carmen and Des.

Desdemona was running late, as per usual, but Carmen had taken a ride with Josephine and Herah, and Dorian was relieved at no longer being alone, and not the only object of ridicule any longer. The same blonde woman who glared at him was whispering away and pointing and staring, and he thinks about how he ought to have just stayed in Tevinter if this was how Ferelden acted, and immediately regrets it. 

“Dorian!” Josephine exclaims, the picture of cheer and grace, even as the same women exaggerate gasps when they see this lovely human woman holding hands with an ox-woman. “Desdemona didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“I was promised cheap convenience items and burnt thighs – both of which are paid in full, mind you.” He pushes his sunglasses atop his head and sips at his drink. “And you know me, I’m always full of surprises.”

Herah looks over the rim of her sunglasses with an appraising smirk, “Full of headaches, more like.”

“You wound me, my friend. Tell me, how is everything? Rayza is well, I presume?”

“She is convinced she is going to…oh, how did she put it, amora?” Josephine pauses, “’Kill it on the field today’?” 

“It took twenty minutes to convince Josephine there was no murder involved.”

Josephine and Herah sit, “It did not! I was merely expressing concern for Rayza!”

Herah nods, but sends Dorian a look.

They were so happy with their little entanglement of commitment, and Dorian felt a pang of desire erupt in his chest. Something he could wake up to and expect was more than welcome right now –

“Hey, hey…I didn’t miss the first pitch, did I?” Desdemona finally runs up to the bleachers, still in her work attire, strands of hair falling around her chin from the loose knot on her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the field. Inez was babbling in her arms, fully content to strain to reach for her mother’s hair. 

Carmen was playing short stop, and Rayza was pitching. Dorian blamed his father for his minute baseball knowledge. 

“They just started.” Herah affirms, arm wrapped around Josephine’s shoulders, “The Cadash crew is getting food, and Varric is running late, so you’re good, Des.”

Des smiles and obviously relaxes at that, taking the free seat between Josie and Dorian, the latter taking Inez and blowing a raspberry on her cheek. 

Des looks out on the field, and notes that the Chargers – their team – was significantly more diverse than the opposition. The other team almost completely consisted of little human boys with heads of blonde or brown hair. 

Josephine must notice, and says, “The Chargers are the only co-ed team in Skyhold. It does make for some…familiar competition.”

“So, who’s the dangerously attractive co-coach I could stare at luridly?” Dorian asks, sitting Inez in his lap so she could watch her sister lunge after the little white ball. 

“Cullen or Bull?” Herah asks, brow raised.

“Cullen, I do believe.”

Herah wears that dangerous smile she only gets whenever she’s planning something, “He’s the blond standing next to the Qunari, and he’s very single at the moment. I could get you his number.” 

“You know me too well, my friend!” Dorian exclaims, Inez pawing at his mustache.

“You thinking of settling down, Dorian?” Herah asks, so flippantly it hurt. She and Josephine just made it look so easy. 

He fakes a laugh, “Hardly. The two of you just make it look so appealing.”

Josephine smiles and Herah smirks, but he can tell that Desdemona doesn’t buy it for a moment. No matter how stressed or absent-minded she seemed, she really was too perceptive for her own good. 

Blessedly, she doesn’t comment on it, rather changing the subject and saying, “So, why is it that so many very attractive, very single people congregate at these things?”

“You trying to, ah, wet your whistle too, Des?” Herah laughs at her own joke and Josephine breaks a smile, glancing down at her phone. 

“Forgive me if I want my love life to consist of more than a failed marriage and an even more embarrassing date.” She practically shudders, as if reliving the date with Charter was just too much to handle. “I haven’t had sex in a year, Herah. I’m a little open to constructive criticism right about now.”

Josephine was getting more and more frustrated every time she looked down at her phone, and Herah was subtly trying to calm her down, to no avail. It could only mean one thing, really.

“Thom.” Josephine says, cutting the standard ringtone off before it could finish its first trill, “No, you cannot keep him for until Tuesday! I’m coming to get him on Monday. I’m sorry you rented the cabin until Tuesday, but that is not my…Thom he better be at your house on Monday…” She stands and silently waves at her friends to let them know that she’d be back, and furiously whisper-shouts into her phone. 

Herah rests her elbows on her knees and focuses on the game. 

“Has he…” Des pauses, and Dorian focuses on Inez, not wanting to push the matter, “He’s still keeping him too long?”

Herah laughs, a hollow sound void of humor, “He comes to pick up Yves early and drops him off late. I get, it, really, he’s his dad, but…” She shakes her head and cuts herself off, standing. “We’ll be right back.” 

Inez babbles happily, reaching over to her mother. 

Maybe things weren’t as easy as Dorian wanted them to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment yo


End file.
